Why a Frog? Why Are There Frogs on Bows?

Written by Matt Lammers

It's one of those curiosities that disappeared with age and experience, one of those elephants in the room you asked about as a beginner, and your teacher shrugged it off with a puzzled expression telling you it wasn't worth losing sleep over. It became a part of your vocabulary and was never given a second thought, but in the back of your head you've always wondered: "Why on earth do we call this the frog?" Here at Fein Violins we embrace and resurrect our own childish curiosity and hope to relax the furled brows of confused, [used-to-be] young musicians everywhere.

The frog of a bow is a simple, yet intricate thing

Fein Violins Customer Comments and Reviews

Here's our running blog with comments and reviews from our customers:

Andy & Amy, 
Thank you for everything. the violin is wonderful and so is your service. My son loves it and so does his instructor. She requested your contact info, so you'll probably hear from her. 
Thank you, 
Terry E. 
(Costa violin outfit)

Dear Andy Fein,
My beautiful violin arrived on Wednesday as expected.  I am overjoyed with it, and have played it at home and in public.  Besides being a beautifully made instrument, it produces a clarity and warmth of tone which is most pleasing to me.  I look forward to exploring all of it's potential, and am very glad that I bought a violin through your company.  The craftsmanship, the care and the cooperation are all important.  I have recommended you highly to several other musician friends.
Thank you so very much!  I wish you light, love and laughter.
Emily
(D Albert violin outfit)

Let me say what a great pleasure it was to deal with the Fein company.  Your knowledge of the instrument and your pleasing professional manner is a great credit to you and your profession.  As for the violin, my wife still is in shock!  The instrument you sold me is the finest she has ever played (Her words).
Once again, sincere thanks,
Bill L.
(Atelier Cremone violin outfit)

Dear Mr. Fein,
Thank you so much for the viola you sent to my son, Jason.  Jason was amazed with the sound that came from this instrument.  He played it for hours after receiving it and smiles broadly whenever he puts bow to string.  He is very hard to please and we had other visits to luthiers lined up before this instrument came.  My son played instruments that cost thousands, and they did not seem to have the sound that came from your instrument.  We appreciate the time and effort you put into providing us with an instrument within our means that sounds this wonderful.  This is an instrument that he will be proud to play for years to come.
Sincerely,
Steve B
(Atelier Cremone viola outfit)

Dear Andy,
I want to let you know that the new cello arrived at my home safely yesterday evening.  The cello and bow are so beautiful and so much better than in photos.  The sound comes out brightly and powerfully even right out of the shipping box.  After just playing a few strokes, my daughter Jeanna said she loved it. She will surely enjoy them for many years to come.  I really appreciate your effort to make our online shopping experiment for such a fragile and delicate musical instrument a wonderful experience.  By doing so, you get loyal customers.  My older daughter is talking about upgrading her full size violin from you some time later this year.
Zeyuan
(Atelier Cremone violin outfit)

Dear Mr. Fein and staff,
Thank you so much for the great cello!  It is so pretty and I LOVE IT!!!  The sound is so big and grand!  Thank you for taking the time to make such a good cello for me!  I would also like to thank you for the beautiful bow.  It is so much easier to do spiccato! I am so grateful for all of your hard work.  Even from Minnesota, you guys did your best to give me a good cello!  Thank you so much!
Love,
Jeanna
(Atelier Cremone cello outfit)

Hi Diane n Andy,
Love the violin!  It sounds like the music is coming from heaven when I play.
Len
(Costa violin outfit)

Why Scrolls?

By Violin Maker Andy Fein, Fein Violins, Ltd.

Scroll of a Gasparo da Salo viola, Brescia circa 1609

In my role as a violin maker and shop owner, I often hear string players searching for an instrument say, "I don't really care what it looks like, I'm only interested in the sound." To which I usually reply, "If looks didn't count, we could paint them all black and use a square block for the scroll." Obviously, in violin family instruments, looks count. We're all interested in the color and beauty of the varnish, the beauty of the wood, and the artistic details such as the f holes, the arching, and the scroll. The scroll is the top part of the instrument with the completely useless detail of being shaped in expanding concentric circles. Yes, completely useless. A square block would work just as well. But a square block wouldn't look nearly as nice. Or have so much power in its beauty.

Scroll of an Andrea Amati violin, Cremona circa 1577

Why f Holes?

f holes, The 'Harrison' Stradivarius circa 1693

By Andy Fein, Violin Maker & Owner, Fein Violins, Ltd.

It's pretty hard to miss the very distinctive feature of the violin family's sound holes. The f hole. They are almost like a violin maker's fingerprints. Very distinctive and a true sign of a maker's skill.

Stradivarius' f holes, The Royal Spanish violin circa 1700

But why f holes? There are many other sound hole patterns that would probably work as well.

The BEST Student Violins, Violas and Cellos

Written by Andy Fein, Violin Maker, Fein Violins, Ltd.

I bet you thought you'd click on this blog post, find out that brand name YamaSuzEastKnilAmatPfretz was the best, and away you would go in ten seconds with all the information you would need for your star student to excel in strings. Sorry, not quite so fast.